The Nursing Shortage is A Multifaceted Issue

The Nursing Shortage is A Multifaceted Issue
The adequacy or inadequacy of nurses and other healthcare professionals significantly influences the healthcare system. As Scheffler and Arnold (2018) indicate, shortages or surpluses of healthcare workers affect the healthcare system by increasing the cost of healthcare delivery. The primary issue concerning the nursing workforce has been nursing shortages. According to Marc et al. (2018), there is a global shortage of nurses, and this shortage is expected to intensify due to the aging nursing workforce and a limited number of nurses joining the profession. It has been predicted that the nursing shortages will incapacitate the healthcare systems unless some immediate and sustainable actions are taken. There has been an assumption that addressing the nursing shortage will require hiring more nurses and enrolling more nursing students. However, the reality is that the nursing shortage is more than a supply issue caused by a lack of trained nurses; there is a myriad of issues related to the nursing working conditions that contribute to the nursing shortages. This paper explores the assumptions and realities of nursing shortages, looking at the background of the issue, its benefits and challenges, its impacts on the healthcare system and recommendations that would improve it.
Background
The supply and demand for nurses have contributed to a global nursing workforce issue. According to Haddad et al. (2022), the demand for nurses and nursing care has increased in recent years due to an aging population. As the population continues to age, healthcare needs have also increased. This is especially critical in developed countries where life expectancy is high. As such, more people live longer and demand more healthcare services to address many healthcare issues. In addition, the supply of nurses has also declined due to an aging workforce and a limited enrolment of new nursing students (Haddad et al., 2022). As the general population ages, so does the nursing workforce. As a result, more nurses are heading into retirement. Despite that, the number of nurses joining the workforce is low, leaving a gap between those leaving and those entering the profession. 
On the other hand, the nursing shortage is a multifaceted issue that should not be addressed simply as a supply issue based on the existence of trained nurses. Oulton (2006), the past chief executive officer of the International Council of Nurses, noted that there is "both a real shortage and a pseudo-shortage, where there are enough nurses but not enough willing to work under available conditions" (p. 35S). This statement suggested that the situation would remain the same even if you had an increase in the number of new graduate nurses without addressing the working conditions for nurses. It is essential to look at the working conditions not only as the physical environment in which the work is carried out but also as including the factors that sustain the professional and personal well-being of the nurses themselves (McDonald & McIntyre, 2019, p. 316). 
Furthermore, according to Goodare (2017), there are a significant number of trained nurses who have left the profession because of job-related issues. These nurses have quit the nursing profession before their retirement, contributing to the shortage of nurses. Some job-related factors that contribute to nurses prematurely leaving the job include workplace violence, burnout, and a generally stressful work environment (Haddad et al., 2022). Therefore, addressing the nursing shortage requires a multifaceted approach that focuses on the realities of the profession. This includes focusing on job-related issues and increasing the supply of nurses. Moloney et al. (2017) suggest that reducing burnout among nurses, increasing nurse engagement, and enhancing work-life balance reduce the turnover rates among nurses. Such solutions can ensure trained nurses are willing to remain in the profession and address the shortage problem. 
Definition and Scope
Nursing shortages can be defined as a situation where the demand for nurses is higher than the supply (Marc et al., 2018). This mismatch leaves a deficit in the nursing workforce, such that nurses cannot meet the population's healthcare needs. Given the significant role of nurses in delivering healthcare, the nursing shortage has received serious attention over the years. Marc et al. (2018), state that the nursing shortage has been identified as a global issue. In Canada, the problem is quite significant and affects the entire country. According to the Canadian Nurses Association (CNA) (2022), many emergency departments in many parts of the country are either reducing their operating hours or shutting down entirely due to nursing shortages. The declining number of nurses is also accompanied by increasing demand for healthcare services in the country. The CNA (2019) reveals that in 2019 alone, the number of nurses in the workforce declined by 1.5%, but the Canadian population grew by 1.4%. This indicates that the number of people needing healthcare services increased, but the rise did not match this increase in the number of actively employed nurses.
Further, Canada is projected to have a significant nursing shortage by 2030. According to Scheffler and Arnold (2018), the demand for nurses in Canada by 2030 will be 564 304, and the supply will be 446 703. It will leave the country with an estimated shortage of 117 600 nurses. This poses a significant risk to the Canadian healthcare system and calls for immediate action.
Benefits and Challenges
The nursing shortage in Canada challenges the nursing profession and the healthcare system. However, it also offers opportunities that can help improve the nursing profession. Below is a discussion of the potential benefits and challenges of the nursing shortage in Canada. 
Benefits
The nursing shortage issue in Canada does not currently provide any tangible benefits to nurses or the healthcare system. However, it provides opportunities for improvement in various areas that affect nurses and contribute to their intention to leave the nursing profession or work part-time, thus contributing to the shortage. The first potential benefit of the shortage is that it has facilitated the reorganization of the nursing workforce. MacKinnon et al. (2018) state that the nursing shortage has forced policymakers to redesign nurse staffing models to accommodate more personnel and create room for nurses to expand their scope of practice. For instance, Registered Practical Nurses (RPNs) scope of practice in Canada was expanded to allow them to work fully to the extent of their training. In addition, the nursing shortage made it clear that nurses and other healthcare professionals were engaged in activities that can be performed by assistive personnel (MacKinnon et al., 2018). Thus, assistive personnel, who do not necessarily require nursing education and training, have been introduced to provide support services. This has increased the time nurses dedicate to patient care because they are not focused on performing duties such as searching for supplies and equipment. Such reorganization is instrumental in improving job satisfaction among nurses (MacKinnon et al., 2018). 
The second potential benefit is that the nursing shortages have forced organizations to look into the working conditions of nurses. As established earlier, the nursing shortage has resulted from unfavourable working conditions as much as it has been due to a limited supply of trained nurses (Haddad et al., 2022). As a result, healthcare organizations are increasingly working towards improving the working conditions to ensure more nurses remain in the profession until retirement. As Moloney et al. (2017) reveal, healthcare organizations are working toward increasing employee engagement through improved organizational support, autonomy, and work-life balance. This has been done to reduce the high turnover rate associated with low job engagement, high job demands, and dissatisfaction among nurses. Therefore, the nursing shortage has been instrumental in helping organizations and policymakers look more closely into the job-related issues that contribute to the shortage. In the process, they address some issues that benefit the nursing profession. 
Challenges
The critical challenge nurses and other healthcare professionals face in the nursing shortage crisis is that most factors contributing to this issue are beyond their control. Nurses and other healthcare workers have no control over the factors that increase the demand for nurses and nursing care. Some factors that increase the demand for nurses and nursing care include population growth, an increase in the number of people with chronic diseases, and shortages in other types of healthcare providers, such as physicians, among others (Drennan & Ross, 2019). The challenges to the changes needed to establish or return to satisfying, safe, and conducive workplaces are primarily seen as systemic. Most of these issues, such as the organization of nurses' work and the distance of people in nursing leadership and management positions from the point of care, can currently be seen as resting on decisions made by people other than nurses themselves (McDonald &a...